New year, same mistakes?

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” ~Oprah Winfrey.

I agree with Ms. Winfrey, now is the time to take a look back at the last year and figure out what went well, what went ok and what just didn’t go! This is not the time to lay blame, but the time to set new goals going forward. Personally, I like to create a list (I love lists, oh and post it notes, but that is slightly irrelevant here) that shows 3 areas: the great, the ok and the what was I thinking.

Take a look at your staff, your employees and your management. Look at how your interactions with them were; add those thoughts to the list.

Did your last open enrollment go well? What could have made it better?

Notices to the employees were well received? Were they even read?

Do employees know who is a part of the HR and PR teams? Should they?

Do your employees feel comfortable approaching the staff when they have an issue with benefits? (We all know if there is a problem with paychecks they have no problem coming forward!)

Was management supportive of HR/PR and the new ideas or tactics that were tried?

Where was the majority of time spent for HR/PR?

How about some ideas for this coming year…

Maybe it is time to look at on demand HR and PR to meet your needs.

What can be done to increase employee retention?

Set aside 20 mins everyday (close the office door) and read one of those articles that you keep flagging for follow up.

Do you have a wellness program in place?

Delegate, delegate, delegate. The key to sanity is delegation!

Are you offering employee or manager self service to your company?

Weekly sit down with your team and go over what has happened during the week, what should happen in the upcoming week and what the future goals are. Keep it short and sweet!